LSTN Troubadour Wooden Headphones are Just in Time for Earth Day

About a year ago we reviewed headphones that were handcrafted from recycled wood, the LSTN Fillmore On-Ears. Now we’re reviewing their big brother, the LSTN Troubadours. The Trabadours are larger on-ear headphones with a more durable and premium look and feel. They, too, sport a fantastic finish crafted from rich recycled wood. As a great bonus, there’s a donation made for every pair of LSTN headphones to the Starkey Hearing Foundation.

Considering the LSTN Fillmore and LSTN Troubadours are both on-ear headphones, the Troubadours are a really nice upgrade. The Troubadours have larger earcups that are not donut shaped; they’re triangular, more cushioned, and even more comfortable. The adjustable headband isn’t plastic and it doesn’t fold; it’s entirely metal. The metal is thin and flexible, but still pretty durable. There’s a bit of padding on the underside of the headband, but no cushioning. The Troubadours are light enough that they’re quite comfortable without the extra cushion. They’ll stay comfortable for at least a few hours.

Gotta love the authentic wood! It’s “reclaimed” and hand crafted, so you’ll never find two pairs of LSTNs that look exactly the same. There’s four types of wood to choose from. We couldn’t be happier with the cherry wood, but there’s also beech wood, ebony wood, and zebra wood. They’re all super smooth, imprinted with a LSTN logo, and covered in a high gloss.

The cable plugs into both ear phones. The cable is durable and wrapped in vinyl. It doesn’t tangle easily. There’s an inline ControlTalk and microphone built in. The ControlTalk has one universal button for controlling music, phone calls, and voice activation. Complete compatibility may vary, but they should work with any iOS device, Android, or Blackberry.

With rich wood comes rich sound. Also like the wood, the audio signature has a natural and authentic essence to it. There’s a great amount of bass without overwhelming the music. The mids are clear and balanced. The highs are crisp. Like most headphones, to really appreciate the Troubadours you should listen in a quiet environment. The noise isolation is pretty good, I definitely lose a lot of detail on the subway and city streets. We’re happy to report that just about any genre sounded great on the Troubadours. They’re also really kind to audio streaming and lower bitrate music.

Pricing out at $150, the Troubadour’s are a great buy. They could easily go for more. There’s a few reviews out there that complain about the comfort of the Troubadours. I actually find them to be more comfortable than average. Most headphones these days get too tight to wear for more than an hour or so hours. Since these have a metal band (and not a cheap plastic band), you can stretch them out or wear them in, and they’ll stay comfortable for more than a couple hours. The LSTN Troubadours are currently available in four beautiful wood finishes. They can be purchased at LSTNheadphones.com. Plus, a portion of every purchase is donated to the Starkey Hearing Foundation (so you can feel twice as good about your purchase!).